2.29.2008

In
his back-and-forth with Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., over Iraq, Sen. John
McCain, R-Ariz., Thursday morning sought to portray the Democratic
front-runner as representing the Iraq politics of the past by focusing
on the decision to invade in 2003 rather than what to do now.

"That's
history, that's the past," McCain told attendees at a town hall meeting
at Rice University. "That's talking about what happened before. What we
should be talking about is what we're going to do now. And what we're
going to do now is continue this strategy which is succeeding in Iraq
and we are carrying out the goals of the surge, the Iraqi military are
taking over more and more of the responsibilities."

Sean
Wilentz thinks its about time the media start realizing that Barry is
an empty suit, probably not even American and is totally to blame for
that Somali dress picture. Okay, I exaggerated a little on the
citizenship issue, but not really because he's accusing Obama of
playing the race card and blaming Hillary. "Playing the Race Card" -
That's a phrase not used nearly enough, right? The New Republic: Race Man

"After
several weeks of swooning, news reports are finally being filed about
the gap between Senator Barack Obama's promises of a pure,
soul-cleansing "new" politics and the calculated, deeply dishonest
conduct of his actually-existing campaign. But it remains to be seen
whether the latest ploy by the Obama camp--over allegations about the
circulation of a photograph of Obama in ceremonial Somali dress--will
be exposed by the press as the manipulative illusion that it is."

The Supreme Court
ruled Tuesday in a closely watched job discrimination case that
allegations that a plaintiff’s co-workers had also suffered
discrimination, offered as evidence of a biased corporate culture, may
be admissible in court — some of the time. At the same time, the
justices said that such evidence should be kept out of court — some of
the time.

The unanimous
decision, in an age-discrimination case against Sprint/Nextel, did not
answer the bottom-line question in the case: whether five co-workers of
the plaintiff, Ellen Mendelsohn, should have been allowed to testify.
All had lost their jobs in the same reduction in force and claimed, as
she did, to be victims of age discrimination.

But the way the court analyzed the case, in a somewhat cryptic nine-page opinion by Justice

Clarence Thomas, may prove more significant in the long run than the absence of a specific answer.

Plastic
money is dangerous. I understand the lure of credit cards. I was one of
those college students who got a few and thought it was free money. My
daddy had to bail me out when I graduated, but never again. Credit
cards are a trap and what we're seeing happening, people using them as
cash because they're strapped, is only going to make the economic
situation worse. Buying things you can't afford is one of the main
reasons we got into this mess. More Americans using credit cards to stay afloat - USATODAY.com"Across
the nation, credit counselors are reporting the same trend. Credit
bureau analyses of consumer payment data show that financially squeezed
borrowers have begun paying their credit card and car bills before
their mortgages. That's a striking reversal from the norm, one that
reflects rising desperation. It suggests that some people essentially
have given up trying to stay current with their mortgages and instead
are focused on using credit cards to squeak by. If the trend persists,
many economists say, it could accelerate mortgage losses and further
drag down the economy."

Now
that Asian economies are growing, women have more choices and many of
them are choosing to live in the city and have careers instead of
staying home and taking care of a husband. They'd rather wait to get
married or even....gasp....not get married at all. This has required
men in rural areas looking for a farm wife to seek out women in poorer
countries where being a farmer's wife would likely be a step up or at
least satisfying enough. Asian men seek brides from poorer nations - USATODAY.com"Instead,
the men increasingly seek women from countries such as China, Vietnam
and the Philippines, where income levels are much lower. The practice
has led to some complaints of abuse and exploitation, particularly when
the unions are arranged by third-party brokers, although some couples
say their marriages are as happy as any other."---------------------------------------

The
2008 Olympics will symbolize progress in China if things continue after
they are over. For now and during the Olympics, the government will
behave. Of course they will. And no one is denying the economic
progress and small amounts of free choices given to the middle class,
but the country is a far, far way from where it should be. Across a Nation, Olympic Fervor - washingtonpost.com"Up
and down China's political, social and economic hierarchy, from new
millionaires to dirt farmers, party cadres to protesters, the country
has embraced its role as Olympics host with an ardor and unanimity
rarely matched in previous Games. The enthusiasm does not stem from the
love of sports, though. Rather, the Olympics are being interpreted here
as a testament to how far the country has come over three decades of
economic reforms and modernization."

--------------------------------------

Interesting changes in China's family planning policies. China may scrap one-child policy, official says World Reuters"China,
worried about an ageing population, is studying scrapping its
controversial one-child policy but will not do away with
family-planning policies altogether, a senior official said on
Thursday. With the world's biggest population straining scarce land,
water and energy resources, China has enforced rules to restrict family
size since the 1970s. Rules vary but usually limit families to one
child, or two in the countryside. 'We want incrementally to have this
change,' Vice Minister of the National Population and Family Planning
Commission Zhao Baige told reporters in Beijing."

2.28.2008

VIRGINIAMany
Fairfax parents are very upset at the zoning changes because, like the
mother in this WAPO story, the school played a major role in where they
would decide to buy a home. Now she might have to move or put her kids
in private school. Vote on School Zones in Fairfax Pits Neighbor Against Neighbor - washingtonpost.com"The
proposal, which could reshuffle high schools for thousands of students
in coming years, has thrown the Fox Mill area and other western Fairfax
enclaves into turmoil as parents weigh the county's need for
demographically and academically balanced schools against personal
ambitions and expectations for their children. It is a drama that has
played out over the years in growing communities across Virginia and
Maryland but rarely on the scale faced in Fairfax."

Some
of these municipal and state efforts have met resistance from people
who consider the assistance undeserved and adamantly oppose anything
that resembles a taxpayer bailout. Seattle, which has nowhere near the
kind of foreclosure problem other cities have, began a modest program
last month offering loans of up to $5,000 to help a few dozen
homeowners avoid losing their homes. Not only are people in Seattle
relatively prosperous, but they have a reputation for being nice, too.
Yet no sooner had Mayor Greg Nickels announced the program than
opposition surfaced.

Prosecutors
went first, describing the detectives as a careless and incompetent
group run amok the morning of Nov. 25, 2006, unorganized and desperate
for an arrest as their nightclub detail was coming to a close. “The
story of how this tragedy occurred is a tale of carelessness,” said
Charles A. Testagrossa, an assistant district attorney, adding that the
shooting “can only be characterized as criminal.”

Defense
lawyers argued that Mr. Bell’s actions that morning led the detectives
to believe themselves at deadly risk and provoked a shooting both
justified and reasonable. One lawyer went a step further, implying that
Mr. Bell’s actions were motivated by racial stereotype, and he
described his client, Detective Gescard F. Isnora, as a hard-working
black man whose actions were misread that morning because of
assumptions.

CALIFORNIASterilizing your pet may
be hard. You think you're doing something wrong or maybe you want to
see her have some little puppies or kitties, but thousands of animals
are put to sleep in cities all over America because there are too many.
This is a better solution. My Way News - Pet Sterilization Becomes Law in LA"Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday signed one of the nation's toughest
laws on pet sterilization, requiring most dogs and cats to be spayed or
neutered by the time they are 4 months old.The ordinance is aimed
at reducing and eventually eliminating the thousands of euthanizations
conducted in Los Angeles' animal shelters every year. 'We will, sooner
rather than later, become a no-kill city and this is the greatest step
in that direction,' Councilman Tony Cardenas said as he held a kitten
at a City Hall news conference."

Seriously, I don't even know what to say. Just read it.An
Irishman blinded by an explosion two years ago has had his sight
restored after doctors inserted his son's tooth in his eye, he said on
Wednesday.

Trevor
Phillips is supposed to be one of the UK's most influential black
figures and he has a problem with Barry winning. He thinks that voting
for him will make whites feel absolved of any remnants of racism and I
guess Phillips wants them to stay feeling guilty. He also says that
Obama is cynically exploiting America's racial divide and by doing so
would make racism worse in America instead of better. Hateration on
blast! Obama victory will prolong US racial divide, says British equality chief - Times Online"'If
Obama can succeed, then maybe they can imagine that [Martin Luther]
King's post-racial nirvana has arrived. A vote for Obama is a pain-free
negation of their own racism. So long as they don't have to live next
door to him; Obama has yet to win convincingly in white districts
adjacent to black communities,' he wrote."

More problems with the Virtual Fence. I know this wasn't going to be what it promised. Disappointing. 'Virtual Fence' Along Border To Be Delayed"The
Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a 'virtual
fence' along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of the first
phase of the project by at least three years and shifting away from a
network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear, federal
officials said yesterday. Technical problems discovered in a 28-mile
pilot project south of Tucson prompted the change in plans"

As
people already seem to think Obama will be the next U.S. president,
talk of a national slavery apology are getting stronger than ever. Five
new states apologized for slavery in 2007. IA Democrat Senator Harkin
and Kansas Republican Senator Brownback are heading efforts in their
states and hoping for national action. Lawmakers to push for U.S. apology for slavery - USATODAY.com"Harkin
says he and Sen. Sam Brownback R-Kan., will propose as early as March
an apology not only for slavery but for subsequent "Jim Crow" laws that
furthered racial segregation. So far, they have 14 Senate backers,
including Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and
Barack Obama. A similar House measure introduced last year has 120
co-sponsors. "I think 2008 will be the year," says Rep. Steve Cohen,
D-Tenn. He says an apology could begin a dialogue about race that Obama
could continue as the nation's first black president."

It
seems like it was just a few months ago that the last "State of Black
America" report came out and this one is saying the same thing. Things
are better, but still not where they should be. Goals for black America not met - USATODAY.com"The
USA has made great strides in the past four decades toward expanding a
black middle class and producing black political leaders, including the
first viable candidate for president. Yet blacks still lag behind
whites significantly in income, education and other measures of
well-being, a study out today concludes. Forty years after the Kerner
Commission warned of a country heading toward 'two societies, one
black, one white — separate and unequal,' the Eisenhower Foundation, a
private urban-policy institute, finds the country has failed to meet
the goals laid out by the presidential commission."

Are there already suggestions that McCain will pick someone other than Mike Huckabee as a running mate? The Hill Blog» McCain-Crist?
Come on. Huckabee has earned that spot in my opinion. Besides, McCain
needs someone who will appeal to conservatives. They might be
considering Florida's Governor Crist because he has such a high
approval rate among African Americans, but honestly, that would be a
waste of a pick if they think that will mean anything.

Long
accused of failing to do enough to deport illegal immigrants convicted
of crimes, federal authorities have recently strengthened partnerships
with local corrections systems and taken other steps to monitor
immigrants facing charges, officials said.

U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that in the 12-month period
that ended Sept. 30, it placed 164,000 criminals in deportation
proceedings, a sharp increase from the 64,000 the agency said it
identified and placed in proceedings the year before. The agency
estimates that the number will rise to 200,000 this year."

Honestly,
is that effective on anyone? I mean anyone who might have voted for
Obama? Let's all agree no. As a matter of fact, talk show host, Bill
Cunningham, actually did a good thing for Barry by continuing to use
his middle name. It's too obvious. Even FOXNews hosts were calling it
lame this morning. Radio show hosts need to remember that foolishness
doesn't go over very well on the tube."A
conservative radio talk show host who helped introduce Senator John
McCain before a rally here Tuesday used Senator Barack Obama’s middle
name, Hussein, three times, while disparaging him, prompting Mr. McCain
to apologize and repudiate the comments afterward.Bill Cunningham, who
hosts “The Big Show” with Bill Cunningham, a local program here that is
also syndicated nationally, was part of a line of people lauding Mr.
McCain and revving up the crowd before his appearance here before
several hundred people at a theater here."

2.24.2008

There
are several articles out about the worry over Obama's safety, but based
on the tone of Hillary's voice when she made her "shame on you"
statement, the secret service need to watch out more for her than
anyone else.

Breitbart.com: Many Blacks Worry About Obama's SafetyFor
many black Americans, it's a conversation they find hard to avoid,
revisiting old fears in the light of bright new hopes. They watch with
wonder as Barack Obama
moves ever closer to becoming America's first black president. And they
ask themselves, their family, their friends: Is he at risk? Will he be
safe? There is, of course, no sure answer. But interviews with blacks
across the country, prominent and otherwise, suggest that lingering
worries are outweighed by enthusiasm and determination.-------------------Report: Security relaxed at Obama speechThe Secret Service told Dallas police to stop screening for weapons while people were still arriving at a campaign rally for Barack Obama,
a report said.Police stopped checking people for weapons at the front
gates of Reunion Arena more than an hour before the Democratic
presidential hopeful appeared on stage Wednesday, the Fort Worth
(Texas) Star-Telegram reported.Police said the order to stop using metal detectors and checking purses and laptop bags constituted a security lapse, the newspaper reported.-------------------Breitbart.com: Secret Service says Obama rally was secureThe
U.S. Secret Service Friday denied reports that security measures at a
recent Barack Obama rally in Texas were relaxed or deviated from
established plans.Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said there was
no order from the Secret Service to stop screening people going to the
Obama rally Wednesday at Dallas's Reunion Arena. He said that the
event's security plans didn't involve having each participant pass
through a magnetometer, as may be the case at other events.The Fort
Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram reported that some police at the event
expressed concern about people not passing through metal detectors.

"Having
long played down the idea that she might someday run for president,
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday said she had no
plans to serve as a vice president either. There has been speculation
that Republican presidential front-runner Sen. John McCain
of Arizona might tap Rice as his running mate. "I have always said that
the one thing that I have not seen myself doing is running for elected
office," Rice said at a news conference. "I didn't even run for high
school president. It's sort of not in my genes."

When
I saw that Michelle Obama's thesis was listed on Drudge Report, I
groaned. The "very proud" issue didn't take off because of a sensible
clarification on her part and the NYTimes sketchy McCain break. So the
right is hoping that they can pull her thesis out and say what? She
talks about race, the racial divide and feeling alienated at Princeton
and being seen as black before being seen as Michelle by her white
classmates and teachers. Michelle Obama thesis was on racial divide - Jeffrey Ressner - Politico.com

The
thesis, titled "Princeton-Educated Blacks and the Black Community" and
written under her maiden name, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, in 1985, has
been the subject of much conjecture on the blogosphere and elsewhere in
recent weeks, as it has been "temporarily withdrawn" from Princeton's
library until after this year's presidential election in November. Some
of the material has been written about previously, however, including a
story last year in the Newark Star Ledger. Obama writes that the path
she chose by attending Princeton would likely lead to her "further
integration and/or assimilation into a white cultural and social
structure that will only allow me to remain on the periphery of
society; never becoming a full participant."

So what is
the strategy? And don't say there isn't one. We're all adults here. I
guess it should be a compliment to the whole Obama clan that this is
the best they can do now.

An
artist killed herself after aborting her twins when she was eight weeks
pregnant, leaving a note saying: "I should never have had an abortion.
I see now I would have been a good mum."

Emma
Beck was found hanging at her home in Helston, Cornwall, on Feb 1 2007.
She was declared dead early the following day - her 31st birthday. Her
suicide note read: "I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the
hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies
died. I want to be with my babies: they need me, no-one else does."

Being
in Orlando can be difficult for someone who doesn't like being around
kids. It's like they're giving them away for free down here.

I do find some joy in my frequent trips to Gizmodo, my favorite gadget site.

Yes, a $7.50 increase for a social security card is a bit steep, but combating I.D. Theft isn't cheap. Identify Theft: Biometric Social Security Cards Proposed to Combat ID TheftTwo
Illinois congressmen are introducing legislation with the goal of
upgrading that flimsy paper piece of crap we call a social security
card to include a photo, fingerprint and computer ID chip. Recent data
shows that nearly $45 billion is lost each year due to identity theft,
which makes it increasingly necessary to safeguard our important
documents from fraud. The only drawback is that the new cards will cost
around $8 to make as opposed to the current 50 cent price tag.
Damn...we've been paying 50 cents for those things?

A
solar farm has opened in Spain that consists of 120,000 solar panels
over 100 hectares (247 acres). It also has a peak capacity of 20
megawatts and it can power up to 20,000 homes—making it the world's
largest solar farm to date. The farm is expected to generate an
estimated annual income of $28 million and reduce CO2 emissions by
about 42,000 tons a year

You
know how your daddy told you money doesn't grow on trees? Well, it does
in Dubai. They are building the most expensive, ridiculously luxurious
stuff there. This is the coolest thing ever! I've always been a HUUUUGE
aquarium fan. I love water. Under water, over water, by the water,
whatever. I will definately make a trip there to see this.

You
can't make some black folks happy. Although I wouldn't consider it cool
for him to avoid black events because we are a big part of why he is
the front runner, it is not to his benefit to be painted as the "black
candidate" or the candidate for black people. We know he's not and it
would have been cool for him to go, but his opposition within the party
and outside of it are salivating to marginalize him to race. And so
what if Hillary is going? They still won't vote for her. Obama takes heat for skipping State of the Black Union - CNN.com"Sen.
Hillary Clinton is the only major presidential candidate to accept
invitation Sen. Barack Obama told organizers he needed to focus on his
campaign Talk show host Tavis Smiley: It's a missed opportunity on
Obama's part Smiley tells Washington Post he's gotten angry e-mails,
threats for criticizing Obama"

It's always the middle class getting screwed. We do all the work, but get none of the credit or benefits!

Stanford
is joining the trend of Ivy League and other top colleges and extended
financial aids to middle class kids. This is a great thing and I'm glad
they're all doing it. Most kids, including most black kids are from
middle class families and there is no way they can afford the $50K a
year it takes for tuition, room & board, etc. at many of these
schools for 4 years. The kid ends up taking out student loans and being
saddled with enormous debt that limits their post-education options. At
these schools you only get a good deal if you're from a poor family or
a rich family. These schools have always given free or close to free
rides to the poor and the rich...well, obviously they can afford it.
Harvard & Yale previously gave a free ride to kids from homes
making $30K or less. They're all raising that number and offering some
grants to kids from homes making up to $75 or even higher. Stanford Set to Raise Aid for Students in Middle - New York Times

2.21.2008

NEW YORKsomeone forgot to take their meds. Cops: N.Y. woman stabbed man who called her ugly - On Deadline - USATODAY.com"Kyeisha
Fuller, 23, is accused of stabbing a 26-year-old man after he made a
disparaging comment about her appearance on Tuesday while visiting her
apartment in Yonkers, N.Y. 'The dispute turned physical after the
victim called the suspect 'ugly' and she then stabbed the victim with a
kitchen knife in the shoulder,' Yonkers police Lt. Sean Mullins tells"

OHIO

First,
I'm happy this man is going to jail and getting his license suspended,
but that should have happened way earlier than the 19th DUI.The Enquirer - Man gets 8 years for 19 DUIs
"A Hamilton man's 19th drunken driving conviction earned him eight
years in prison and a lecture about his 30-year record, which ranks him
among Ohio's six worst drunken drivers.

'You
knew a long time ago that you had a problem with drinking and driving
and you've never chosen to do anything,' Judge Noah Powers told Stephen
W. Wolf in Butler County Common Pleas Court during sentencing Tuesday.

Wolf faced up to 10 years in prison as a result of a hit-and-run crash in Fairfield Township last summer."

TEXAS

Good luck with that. Possible Cell Phone Ban In S.A. WOAI.COM: San Antonio NewsA
proposed cell phone ban goes before San Antonio's City Council
Wednesday. Council Member Justin Rodriguez proposed the ban, which
would require drivers to hang up their phones when they see a school
zone sign.

The
news story for the day is the NYTimes break on McCain having a "close"
relationship with a female lobbyist and using his influence and voting
power to support her efforts in the telecommunications industry. Both
McCain and the woman denied it and McCain bit back pretty hard this
morning. The article is iffy. There are a lot of anonymous sources, but
I know that doesn't mean it isn't true.

The whole affair thing
is a "who knows" situation and that's between him and his wife. Any
relationship between a married man and single woman is going to raise
eyebrows these days even if all they are is close friends. Aides say
the reason they stressed she stay away from McCain was because his
relationships with lobbyists had been in question for a while during
the 2000 campaign and she was around too often.

However, to
accuse a man running for President of serious ethics violations is a
serious thing and something the voters need to know more about IF its
true. McCain has a good reputation on The Hill even according to
conservatives who hate him. I don't think people will be inclined to
believe this report unless something more concrete shows its face.Political Radar: McCain Campaign Responds Angrily to Report Questioning Ethics

Deporting
illegal immigrants that have committed crimes is about the only thing
that both sides of the illegal immigration issue can agree on. More
states are doing just that while waiting for some solution on the other
illegal immigrants. If California did more of this, it would make a
dent in its Latino gang activity. Immigrant Sex Criminals Being Deported - washingtonpost.com: "More
than 170 immigrants convicted of sex crimes are being deported after
authorities found their names on Virginia's sex offender registry,
state and federal officials announced yesterday.Some of those being
deported are undocumented immigrants, and others were in the United
States legally, but all were convicted of sex crimes once they entered
the country. All immigrants are subject to removal under federal law if
they commit crimes of 'moral turpitude.'"

Like NBC's
Scrubs, Girlfriends was thought to be in its final season before the
writer's strike. So there wasn't much surprise in Tinseltown when the
CW announced the show wasn't coming back when the rest of its programs
resumed production.

I've never been a fan of
Girlfriends -- it always felt like a low-rent, blackified version of
Sex and the City. But I sympathize with those who wonder what this
means for the state of black-centered programming on TV.--------------------------Booker Rising turned me on to this blog called Stuff White People Like. Honestly, you won't be able to stop laughing.------------------------------I
am NOT, I stress NOT, a fan of Sean Combs. But in between collecting
awards for illegitimate baby maker of the year, he has done a good job
in Raisin In The Sun, which is now an ABC movie. We need to watch this
stuff, folks. We complain about all the negative stereotypes and empty
images we see of blacks on TV and the movies. We have to support an
attempt to spread out wings and show another side of us. That's why
I'll watch this (plus its also a pretty good play) and that's why I'll
go see Debbie Allen's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof even though I don't like
Terrence Howard. 'Raisin' has a new day in the sun as ABC television movie - USATODAY.com

2.20.2008

What
did I hear when I turned on the news this morning? "Well now Clinton
has to win Ohio & Texas or she's done." Everyone seems so reluctant
to cut her loose. If Obama had lost 10 primaries in a row, I think he
might be marginalized like Huckabee. People would be asking him to step
out of the race. And yes, I realize that the delegate/super delegate
count is still close and she'll probably win Ohio, but if she doesn't
win Texas, can we let this end? If the Republicans did a percentage
share instead of winner takes all, McCain & Huckabee would be very
close too.

Either way, Barry won in Hawaii and killed it in
Wisconsin, where they were hoping Clinton would do better. The analyst
were all saying, "With a 6% black population, Clinton..." Hello! Iowa,
Idaho, Alaska, Kansas...need I continue? I think these states show that
race really need not be a factor anymore.

I'm
sure the Clintons are livid that their attacks haven't really worked,
but Bill remembers this in 92. No matter what the Republicans stuck him
with, it didn't work.

In his new book, The World That Made New Orleans,
Ned Sublette talks about the history of this complicated city in this
state that has exchanged quite a few hands. He shares a lot of the
slave history and black culture. He talks about slave revolts, slave
militias and how slaves were the entire economy for some time. He also
talks about the color system for blacks and all the swirling going on
at the time.

Slavery may be the
great sin of American history; however, it had its ambiguities. In New
Orleans, free people of color made up a sizable slave-owning class —
even though they identified with revolutionary France’s Declaration of
the Rights of Man. Such ironies converged in a Creole society that the
French would call un métissage culturel — a culture made of mingled
bloodlines.

Just because they were owned by people of color too doesn't really make it ambiguous to me. It's still a great sin.

What
we've heard people say is now turned into an Ad Campaign. Illegal
Immigration hurts black labor. Is this about telling the truth to open
up people's eyes or about causing a greater divide between black and
brown to the advantage of someone who is neither? Ad: Immigration Costs Blacks Jobs - WGCL Atlanta. Check out the ad at the link.

A
provocative new immigration advertisement just hit Atlanta’s airwaves.
The ad links black unemployment with the rise in illegal immigration.
The Coalition for the Future American Worker paid for the spots. Latino
advocates like the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational
Fund’s Elise Shore are concerned that making a direct link between
immigrants and black unemployment is stoking the fire of racial divide.
Department of Labor unemployment rates from January show that black
unemployment is highest at 9.2 percent, compared to whites and
Hispanics.

"This
is the triumph of American policy really," he said. "It was probably
unexpected of the man. It was expected of the nation, but not of the
man, but both rose to the occasion."

"What's in it for [Mr. Bush]? Absolutely nothing," Mr. Geldof said.

Mr.
Geldof said that the president has failed "to articulate this to
Americans" but said he is also "pissed off" at the press for their
failure to report on this good news story.

What
he has tried to do has not been perfect and without criticism, but its
has been admirable. And it has been overshadowed by so much that has
gone wrong here and elsewhere as well as our lack of action in Darfur.
In addition, America doesn't seem to place a high value on Africa, so
his work there was bound to be underappreciated. And I do think the
media could have done more on this issue, but that's just MHO.

China
watchers are predicting a drop in the GNP growth rate this year and for
the foreseeable future. Most are attributing the expected fall off this
year — from last year’s official 11.4 percent, the fifth year in a row
of double digit expansion — to the expected downturn in the U.S. and
the world economy in general.

It’s
now believed that urban unemployment increased by about 8 percent
annually in the mid 1990s, but in the next decade the number of
laid-off workers increased by around 40 percent annually with the
attempt to collapse the old Soviet-style bankrupt state owned
enterprises (SOEs). Nor did the officially “unemployed” include men
past the age of 50 and women over 45 or those who have migrated to the
cities and are thus not registered as formally urban dwellers.

GEORGIAI didn't even know there was a Soul Food museum. Seriously? Showcasing soul food of the American South - International Herald Tribune. Kenneth
Willhoite, 6-foot-4, or 1.92 meters, plus a chef's hat, dark suit and
bow tie, greeted visitors. Dr. Willhoite, as he calls himself (when
pressed, he explained that the title came from an honorary degree), is
the impresario behind the Soul Food Museum, a curiosity cabinet in the
form of a convenience store, filled with relics like a cast iron stove
and an old ice-box, blow-ups of photographs of Willhoite with
celebrities and shelves full of products developed and marketed by
blacks - products that are often found only in mom-and-pop groceries,
gasoline stations, truck stops or street festivals.

CALIFORNIAA city about to become the first in American history to go bankrupt. Vallejo On Brink Of Bankruptcy - News Story - KNTV San Francisco. The
city of Vallejo is on the brink of becoming the first California city
ever to declare bankruptcy, City Council members said Tuesday.Vallejo may run out of cash as early as March, council member Stephanie Gomes said."Not
only that, but now we have 20 police and fire employees retiring
because they are afraid of not getting their payouts," Gomes said.
"That means we have another few million dollars in payouts that we had
not expected. So the situation is quite dire."Gomes said the situation has been building for more than a decade.

NEW YORKThis is foolishness and Bloomberg better address it. Report: Blacks, Hispanics stopped on NYC subways -- amNY.com. Almost
9 in 10 subway riders stopped and questioned by police are black or
Hispanic, although the two groups together represent just under half
the ridership, a newspaper reported Sunday.Some 35.5 percent of
straphangers are white, but whites made up only 8.1 percent of the
riders stopped last year, the Daily News reported. Blacks and Hispanics
together comprised 49 percent of riders, but 88.3 percent of the stops,
according to the newspaper.Police stopped almost 11 times as many
blacks and Hispanics as whites last year -- 23,909, compared to 2,186,
the Daily News said.

I
realize that the Right is desperate at this point and that might be why
they've decided to take Michelle Obama's statement and use it to turn
her into Teresa Heinz Kerry. Here it is:

"What we've learned
over this year is that hope is making a comeback. It is making a
comeback and let me tell you something, for the first time in my adult
lifetime, I'm really proud of my country. And not just because Barack
has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I
have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and
just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment. I've
seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common
issues, and it's made me proud. And I feel privileged to be a part of
even witnessing this, traveling around states all over this country and
being reminded that there is more that unites us than divides us..."

They
are questioning her patriotism and saying that her statement means she
has never been proud or very proud of anything about America before.
Their accusations are without merit for many reasons. One reasons is
because anyone who is even mildly objective knows that she was speaking
in the moment to a crowd. Another reason is that any reasonable person
would believe that a woman seeing her husband (of any race) have a real
chance to be president would be the proudest moment in her life and no
reasonable person would believe she meant she'd never been proud of
this country before.

More importantly, what I see here is the
problem with race in America. It isn't about the KKK or your everday
bigots. It's about men like Joe Scarborough and Sean Hannity (who I
like, but I'm just picking on them because I saw them ridicule her) who
come from the most privileged group in America passing judgment on the
American experience and perspective of someone not from that group. Is
her patriotism really in question? Of course not. Michelle would be the
first to tell you how good this country has been to her and how much
she loves and is proud of America. Seriously, would she be risking the
safety of her entire family by supporting her husband's quest for the
White House if she didn't think this country was worth it?

The
problem is that too many, although not all, men like Scarborough &
Hannity have a lack of tolerance for anyone who's recollection of
America isn't the same as theirs. When they think of the signing of the
Constitution, they think of a perfect time in history when wise, just
men declared life, liberty, justice and freedom for all. Michelle
probably remembers a great time in history where the groundwork for
democracy and a great country was laid, but we were also still slaves
for another 100 years. Many of those wise, just men owned slaves and
more than a few of them were not so kind to their female slaves. Those
men don't recall that, but a black woman does whether she wants to or
not. If she were to bring this up, her patriotism would be questioned
because she doesn't see a "perfect time."

When
men like Scarborough & Hannity ask why can't the world be like it
was in the 50s, they imagine/remember a time where life was perfect,
there was good will, prosperity and values made us a strong country.
Michelle remembers all the good things about the 50s, but she also
knows that black men were being lynched every weekend as a picnic theme
among other things.

She also knows that while Scarborough &
Hannity remember an America that said "yes" to everything, she, as she
has mentioned before, remembers the "yes," but also the "no" and "wait"
heard many times too. Still she fought and prospered. For them to be
proud of America is easy. For her to be is truly patriotic. The Right
is going to have to do better than this.

MICHIGANIf
you thought the city of Detroit had enough to worry about from its
Mayor's office, the wife of Congressman Conyers(D) has added another
chapter. Detnews.com: Report says Monica Conyers made threat. An
aide to Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick filed a police report Thursday claiming
Monica Conyers, the short-tempered City Council president pro tem and
wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, threatened to get a gun and shoot him
at a city pension board meeting. But a spokesman for Conyers says she
was the real victim in the hubbub. According to the police report filed
Thursday by DeDan Milton, an assistant to Kilpatrick, Conyers
"threatened to shoot (Milton) with her gun" and made "several
aggressive movements" toward Milton "in a threatening manner."

MASSACHUSETTSSome
legislators in Boston admit that many groups are struggling, but black
males seem to be doing the worst and they want to look into it more. Lawmakers urged to create panel to study black males - The Boston Globe. "Leaders
in the black community urged lawmakers at a Beacon Hill hearing
yesterday to create a state commission to examine the "social status"
of black men in Massachusetts. more stories like thisThey called on
lawmakers to pass a bill that would appoint 21 people to study trends
among African-American men, assess existing programs for blacks, and
propose new ones to benefit black men."

CALIFORNIAMore on the black fight from Los Angeles. Urban flight from Los Angeles Straight outta Compton Economist.com. Between
2000 and 2006 the black population of Victorville and Apple Valley
swelled from 11,900 to 24,500. Two hours' drive from central Los
Angeles and surrounded by Joshua trees, it is an improbable black
haven. Victorville is a former military town on the edge of the Mojave
desert to which Orson Welles exiled the writers of “Citizen Kane” to
ensure they would finish the film without distractions. Yet Victorville
is typical. Other sprawling exurbs, such as Palmdale and Lancaster, are
also seeing an influx of blacks looking for cheaper housing and safer
streets. They reveal a dramatic shift in southern California's
population, and provide clues to how America is changing.

The
latest on Wisconsin & Texas polls as of yesterday for both parties.
In Wisconsin McCain and Huckabee are only 8 points apart while Obama
leads Clinton by 10. Interesting.American Research Group

---------------------

I absolutely believe that people believe this. Some voters say sexism less offensive than racism -CNN.com.
I believe there are a good number of people who prefer Barry to Hills
because they prefer a man over a woman more than they prefer white over
black. There is a line between acknowledging the difference in the
sexes and what those roles mean and sexism. Many people cross that line
and do not get the same rebuke when they do they seem regarding race. I
don't like either the Bword or the Nword, but I know which one would
make me knock somone upside they head if they called me it. Hell, I'll
tell you right now I'm a b*&^%. What?
----------------------
I know who Putin didn't get a valentine from last week. Putin vs. Clinton - Ben Smith's Blog - Politico.com . "The
former KGB lieutenant colonel appeared to lash out at U.S. Sen. Hillary
Clinton — a leading Democratic candidate for president — when one
reporter quoted her as saying that former KGB officers have no soul:"At
a minimum, a head of state should have a head," Putin said."--------------------------
This is why he's doing so well in Texas. If you like guns, Texas likes you. Obama Supports Individual Gun Rights
"The senator, a former constitutional law instructor, said some
scholars argue the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees gun
ownerships only to militias, but he believes it grants individual gun
rights. 'I think there is an individual right to bear arms, but it's
subject to commonsense regulation' like background checks, he said
during a news conference."

2.17.2008

2.15.2008

Seems
like everyone is trying to claim black, right? Just because someone was
swirling a few generations ago doesn't really mean you're black, but it
doesn't matter either way so whatevs. 171 years ago, one of Russia's
most famous poets, Alexander Pushkin, was born. Fitting that it is in
February, right? It's actually a pretty interesting story and he does
look black(ish) in his pictures. The Original Black Russian Views TheRoot.com. Pushkin's
great-grandfather, Abram Gannibal, was born in Sub-Saharan Africa,
probably on the territory of what is now Cameroon, in the late 17th
century. Taken captive in his boyhood, he was transported in 1705 by a
Russian emissary from the court of the Turkish Sultan and presented as
a gift to Peter the Great. Peter had the boy baptized and made him his
godson. Since Abram was apparently a quick study, Peter gave him a job
as his personal secretary then, as part of his crash program of
modernizing Russia, sent him to France to study military engineering.

INDY IS BACK! Here is the trailer for Indiana Jones 4 - Dude is old, but looks like he's still getting it done.

--------------------La
Shawn Barber did a post on a sister doing country music. Yeah, you
heard right. Rissi Palmer is her name. Hearing a black woman in country
music is a likely as....well, hearing a black woman in country music. La Shawn Barber’s Corner » Rissi Palmer Review

Here is her home page Rissi Palmer. You can listen to some of her songs. I like that song, "Hold On To Me"

------------------

As
an author who does not do Street Lit, I'm not the most biased person on
this issue, but it does bother me how popular the genre is. All the
heroes are the most negative stereotypes out there. Drug dealers, gang
leaders, pimps, former hookers, groupies sleeping to the top, gold
diggers and crime boss. WAPO's The Root offers a way to break free from
this fad. Break the 'Street Lit' Habit - TheRoot.com----------------

Hillary Clinton's tone and words have taken a sharp turn in the last couple of days.

Clinton sharpens attacks on Obama - CNN.com.
The woman is fighting for her life; what she's worked towards for 30
years. She has a good lead in PA, OH & TX and she plans to keep it.
She's attacking Obama's voting record and saying that he only gives
inspiring speeches but offers no real solutions. She's saying things
like "Talk is cheap," and this:

"My
opponent says that he'll take on the special interests," she said.
"Well, he told people he stood up to the nuclear industry and passed a
bill against them. But he actually let the nuclear industry water down
his bill -- the bill never actually passed."

These
are good manuevers. His record is very liberal and she's moderate like
most Americans. He has been explaining more of his platform of late,
but the majority of his speeches do consist of inspiration quotes and
idealism. This way, her opponents will not be able to play the race
card with her. I mean we all know there will be people who see any
criticism of him as racist, but that isn't reasonable or logical, so
there is nothing that can be done about them. They'll still throw
"racism" out there to see if it will stick, but if she sticks to this
strategy, it likely will not.

As
a hint hint to Congress as they put together the foreign aid budget,
Bush is charting a change for our relationship with Africa before he
heads to the continent. Bush Says Paternalism Over in U.S. Aid

"America
is serving as an investor, not as a donor,' Bush said in a tone-setting
preview of his six-day trip to Africa, which begins Saturday.The
president said the United States has a moral imperative and a vital
security interest in helping Africa overcome disease, poverty and
instability. His message reflected that foreign aid goes over better
with lawmakers and the taxpaying public when it turns up tangible
results and lasting change."

2.14.2008

Although
I am very happy that LOST came back, I'm sad that the final word on 24
is nothing until next season. I half expected it, but was still hopeful
for a summer series. Heroes is also over for the season. I'm glad the
strike is over, but this TV season is pretty much shot. I'm proud of
how little it has mattered to me, with the exception of 24. Netflix
& the BBC saved me. But being fair to the writers and the living
they have to make is more important than a TV show I probably shouldn't
be watching anyway. After Strike, TV Shows Hurry Up and Wait - New York Times-----------------

NEW YORKA staunch liberal supporter of school vouchers does an about face, suprising everyone. A Reversal on School Vouchers, Then a Tempest - New York Times. Despite
his many earlier City Journal articles calling for vouchers and charter
schools, in the new essay Mr. Stern focused on the shortcomings of the
voucher movement. He argued that in recent years, vouchers had steadily
lost political support. And citing the need for a “Plan B,” he urged
educators to focus on improving curriculums instead. To support his
idea, Mr. Stern pointed to Milwaukee’s experiment with school vouchers.----------------------MARYLAND & VIRGINIAOur kids are our awesome! Md., Va. Among Top 3 In Passing '07 AP Tests - washingtonpost.com: "Maryland
public schools had the second-highest percentage of graduating seniors
who passed Advanced Placement tests last year, and Virginia's had the
third-highest, College Board officials disclosed yesterday. Maryland
also ranked second in the nation for gains on that measure of college
readiness."Montgomery accounting for most of the MD high scores and Northern VA pulled up the rest of the state.

Mark
McKinnon, a top adviser to John McCain said he won't stay on the
campaign if Obama gets the blue nod. He says that although he disagrees
with Obama on some very fundamental issues, he wouldn't be comfortable
being on a team that attacks Obama. This seems odd to me. If you think
McCain would make a better candidate you have to point that out. That
doesn't mean you have to be nasty, but you have to attack his policies,
his experience. No candidate is above this and you aren't doing Obama
any favors by treating him as if he is. Maybe he has some early
indication that the team plans to get nasty, in which case I would quit
too.---------------------This little town called Obama in Japan is rooting for their namesake just for the heck of it. I think its cute. Obama, Japan, roots for accidental namesake - Yahoo! News---------------The
Republicans are sending out ridiculous valentines posts on Hillary and
Obama. Here isthe Obama one focusing on his lack of experience.
Wonkette seems to be amused. He 'hopes' You'll Be His Valentine: Republicans Begin Hilarious Anti-Obama Campaign----------------------Some
at Booker Rising pointed this out to me. Wonkette picked up on a
horribly inappropriate and obvious gutter attack on Obama. I'm almost
speechless at its brazen content. Hopefully everyone will respond to it
the way the commenters on the blog have. It's really sad. Wonkette: The Christian's Case Against Barack Saddam Hussein Obama---------------------The
GOP has started the Obama Spend-O-Meter, tracking the cost of all the
proposals Barry puts forward. He's at $874 billion now. Republican • National • Committee

"It was configured in a way so that, if it was pulled, it would take off the head of a Border Patrol agent riding in an open
car," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said at a House
budget hearing. The wire was discovered Saturday when authorities
monitoring a surveillance camera saw two people on the north side of
the border east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, in the San Diego
sector.

The Ethics Committee did a slap of the wrist on ID Senator Larry "I am sooo not gay" Craig. Breitbart.com: Ethics Panel Says Craig Acted Improperly. The
Senate Ethics Committee said Wednesday that Idaho Sen. Larry Craig
acted improperly in connection with a men's room sex sting last year
and had brought discredit on the Senate. In a letter to the Republican
senator, the ethics panel said Craig's attempt to withdraw his guilty
plea after his arrest at a Minneapolis airport was an effort to evade
legal consequences of his own actions. The six members of the
committee—three Democrats and three Republicans—told Craig they
believed he "committed the offense to which you pled guilty" and that
"you entered your plea knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently."

2.13.2008

As
voters contemplate putting a woman in the White House, Nicholas
Kristoff reminds us that the historical record of women leaders has
been good enough for them to deserve the chance to be perceived as both
competent and liked.When Women Rule - New York Times

A
notable share of the great leaders in history have been women: Queen
Hatshepsut and Cleopatra of Egypt, Empress Wu Zetian of China, Isabella
of Castile, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Catherine the Great of
Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria. Granted, I’m neglecting the likes
of Bloody Mary, but it’s still true that those women who climbed to
power in monarchies had an astonishingly high success rate.

Yes,
the strike has been resolved, but you won't see any new shows for a
while, so if you're looking for something to fill up your Netflix
queue, check out TIME's list of the The 25 Most Important Films on Race. How many of them have you seen? What's missing from this list? Will Netflix even have them?

They are listed in order of release year. The ones in bold I saw:

Body & SoulHallelujah!Judge PriestImitation of Life (I liked both versions)God's Step ChildrenThe Duke Is TopsGone With the Wind (can kiss my a%%. I may be called a blasphemer, but that movie was nothing more than a movie to me.)The Blood of JesusThe Jackie Robinson StoryCarmen Jones (oh, the drama)The Defiant OnesNative SonIn The Heat of the Night (when he slapped that white man back, I know everyone in the theatre gasped)Sweet Sweetback's Baad Assss SongLady Sings The BluesCooley HighKiller of SheepRichard Pryor Live In ConcertA Soldier's Story (sad, but very good)Do The Right Thing (put some more mozzarella on that MF!)Boyz In The Hood (shows it takes a man to make a man)Eve's BayouBamboozledMadea's Family Reunion (really?)I Am Legend (uhm..really?)

I would probably replace Madea & Legend with The Color Purple or Beloved.

Working
on a clean slate, Nebraska may opt for a form of lethal injection that
does not rely on the combination of three chemicals that is the subject
of a pending challenge in the United States Supreme Court.
It may also explore entirely different methods of execution. Seven
states allow at least some inmates to choose electrocution instead of
lethal injection. Two others, Illinois and Oklahoma, have designated
electrocution as the fallback method should lethal injection be ruled
unconstitutional.

I'm glad that I'm
still conflicted by the death penalty. I'd be afraid if I reached a
point where it didn't matter to me or I was happy to enforce it. People
always say that it doesn't matter or that its even a good thing that an
execution hurts, but I disagree. It matters a lot. Executing someone is
not about revenge and it should bring no one pleasure. Let's face it.
It's murder, but that doesn't mean it has to resemble the pain and
torture of the murders that put these men and women on death row in the
first place.

Some
people range from being so easy on young criminals that they might as
well not punish them at all to being so hard on them that they might as
well abolish the legal differences between adults and children period.
There is something in between. There are definately young people who
deserve to be kept away from society forever, but we have to take
responsibility for the ones who are redeemable and make that redemption
a priority.

Some
juvenile criminals commit horrible crimes, and the justice system
should punish them accordingly. Juveniles, though, are not adults. Even
their brain development is different, making them less able than older
people to resist impulses. Consideration should also be given to the
nature of the crime. In some cases, juveniles have been imprisoned for
life for acting as accessories or lookouts for adults. Putting a
16-year-old who played such a role in jail for perhaps 65 years is an
extraordinarily harsh, and expensive, societal response.

There
are several important respects in which it's unsupported by the New
Testament. First, the timing. In the Bible we are told that you die,
and enter an intermediate state. St. Paul is very clear that Jesus
Christ has been raised from the dead already, but that nobody else has
yet. Secondly, our physical state. The New Testament says that when
Christ does return, the dead will experience a whole new life: not just
our soul, but our bodies. And finally, the location. At no point do the
resurrection narratives in the four Gospels say, "Jesus has been
raised, therefore we are all going to heaven." It says that Christ is
coming here, to join together the heavens and the Earth in an act of
new creation.

He says no one has been raised from the dead yet? What about Lazarus?

It
appears that Jesus was a just a big liar and was only trying to be nice
to that criminal that was dying next to him on the cross. He explains:

There
is Luke 23, where Jesus says to the good thief on the cross, "Today you
will be with me in Paradise." But in Luke, we know first of all that
Christ himself will not be resurrected for three days, so "paradise"
cannot be a resurrection. It has to be an intermediate state. And
chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation, where there is a vision of worship in
heaven that people imagine describes our worship at the end of time. In
fact it's describing the worship that's going on right now. If you read
the book through, you see that at the end we don't have a description
of heaven, but, as I said, of the new heavens and the new earth joined
together.

A "good thief" is an oxymoron unless you're referring to his superior talent at theivery.

Who
did you watch the results with? If you say C-Span, you're a loser. You
have to have commentary to get through this stuff. I watched MSNBC. You
can't beat Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Brian Williams & Tom
Brokaw. Tim is always so serious and Chris is as close to crazy as they
will allow on TV News. I don't know if you saw Brian Williams' stint on
Saturday Night Live, but he is ridiculously funny. If you've seen him
guest on The Daily Show you'd know. Bringing Tom Brokaw back for the
results analysis is great. We love him, don't we? NBC also has the
mechanical, stodgy, pasty types, but they're still good. Stone Phillips
was the quintessential boring newsman, but he's married to a sister, so
I'll give him swirl points.

This
morning, as the analysis continued, Pat Buchanan simply stated that
Obama is beatable. Tim Russert & Mike Barnacle looked at him like
he was crazy and Chris looked at him as if he'd just said something
about his Mama. But does it really bother people? Chris is good at what
he does and that includes being occassionally inappropriate and showing
his bias. He's honest. Now if Brian Williams were to do this, it would
be a problem, but not Chris.

After
his overwhelming defeat of Hillary, Obama is declared as the
front-runner officially, but you know Hills is like, "Frontrunner?
B*&^@, please, everyone knows Texas and Ohio are the only two
states that really matter."

Hell, if Barry wins Texas, we might
as well just move him into the White House the next weekend. If he can
get white guys with guns and big hats on his side, world domination is
all that is left. If you examine his VA & MD numbers, he did well
with white males, women and people over 50, so he has pretty much
broken all the barriers set before him. VA was Hillary's only chance
and she was whipped like a red-headed stepchild in my state. Obama also
began building his platform for his McCain speech last night. Did you
count how many times he said "McCain" right after he said "Bush?"

What
will Hillary's next move be? How scared are the Republicans about the
Democrat VA turnout as opposed to the Republican VA turnout? Are some
of their reliably red states turning purple?

McCain won both
states and the district as expected. Did conservatives think they could
scare him? Remember who you're dealing with, people. Waving your bibles
means nothing to a man who spent several years in a Vietnamese prison.
Did you notice in his victory speech that he took a dig at Obama's
"hope" theme? He talked about it being nice, but not enough. He also
talked about how he was not ordained for this spot by his party (hint
hint). He's building his platform. A big "Yeah!" for Huckabee giving
him a run for his money in Virginia. Huckabee has now set his sights on
the Lone Star state where he believes he has a good chance because, as
he put it, "I understand BBQ." The thing about Texans is that they are
Texans first and Republican or Democrat second. The differences are a
fine line. I know Wisconsin is coming up, but can anyone provide the
poll numbers for Texas?

2.12.2008

A
lot of people are discussing China, the Olympics and whether or not
this should just be about sports and not politics. As there are many
aspects about China that are getting better, there are still human
rights violations that can't, and shouldn't, be ignored. But is the
Olympics the time to point that out? Or is the only real chance anyone
will have to point it out? I don't really watch the summer Olympics,
but I have no problem with peaceful demonstration like we saw here in
1968. But many groups are planning very big, over the top events. How
do you feel?

They
is also an uproar over this contract some countries, I assume those
China feels are the most troublesome, with a promise to behave. Are
they going to make American athletes sign this contract? Britain kow tows to China as athletes are forced to sign no criticism contracts - Daily Mail
"British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract
promising not to speak out about China's appalling human rights record
– or face being banned from travelling to Beijing. The move – which
raises the spectre of the order given to the England football team to
give a Nazi salute in Berlin in 1938 – immediately provoked a storm of
protest."---------------------------In other areas, to guard
against lead, steroids, ebola and whatever else they might find, the
U.S. is sending its own food to China to protect its athletes. Wary U.S. Olympians Will Bring Food to China - New York Times. In
preparing to take a delegation of more than 600 athletes to the Summer
Games in Beijing this year, the U.S.O.C. faces food issues beyond
steroid-laced chicken. In recent years, some foods in China have been
found to be tainted with insecticides and illegal veterinary drugs, and
the standards applied to meat there are lower than those in the United
States, raising fears of food-borne illnesses. In the past two years,
the U.S.O.C. has tried to figure out how to avoid such dangers at the
Olympics. It has made arrangements with sponsors like Kellogg’s and
Tyson Foods, which will ship 25,000 pounds of lean protein to China
about two months before the opening ceremony, but will hire local
vendors and importers to secure other foods and cooking equipment at
the Games.

As
expected, tough illegal immigration laws are causing some illegals to
go back to their countries, but most of them are likely just migrating
to another state. MyFox Houston Illegal Immigrants Leaving Arizona, Oklahoma for Texas. I know I always argue state's rights, but on some issues, the federal government has to create a unified policies.

"Illegal
immigrants are coming into Texas, but not from where one might think.
The rush is coming from Arizona, Oklahoma and other states -- places
that have recently passed tough new anti-illegal immigrant laws. The
two toughest measures are in Arizona and Oklahoma. The Oklahoma
statute, which took effect in November, makes it a crime to transport,
harbor or hire illegal immigrants. Effective Jan. 1, the Arizona law
suspends the business license of employers who knowingly hire
undocumented workers. On a second offense, the license is revoked."--------------------In
Arizona, Missouri and Oklahoma, the courts are supporting illegal
immigration laws, giving hope to towns like Hazleton, PA, which was one
of the first to enact tough illegal immigration laws only to be deemed
illegal by the courts.In Reversal, Courts Uphold Local Immigration Laws - New York TimesThe
recent federal decisions will probably give new encouragement to states
and towns seeking to drive out illegal immigrants by making it
difficult for them to find jobs or places to live.------------------The
mayor of Danbury, CT says he is leading a compromise in the fight
against illegal immigration by only taking action to oust illegal
immigrants (of which his city has an estimated 10,000) who have
committed crimes beyond just being here illegally. “The
intention is to target criminal aliens,” the mayor said in an
interview. “It’s not going to be the horrible thing the opponents think
it’s going to be. On the other side, it’s not the sweeps and roundups
the far right want it to be.”

Republicans must be elated. When they heard there was another sex scandal in Florida, they must have known it was one of them. Steam Room Antics: Hurrah, Another Gay Florida Sex Scandal!.
They've been on a hot streak of late. But no, this time the perv plays
for the Blue team. He's not an actual politician, so this isn't as
interesting as it could be, but does involve an underaged boy, who
later reported the incident, so unlike in some cases when people get in
trouble for just being nasty, it looks like we have a real criminal
here (allegedly). He works for Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts.

In
other news, remember religious leader and Bush buddy Ted Haggard? He
liked getting massages from men but spoke out about how gay people were
sinful? Remember when you first saw a clip of him on the news and knew
in like 5 seconds that he was gay so you were confused as to why so
many people were surprised? After the scandal, Haggard stepped down
from his pulpit and went to a gay rehab facility where they turn you
straight. He had said he was completely 100% heterosexual after going
through some of the program, but he is no longer in the program and
might still have a little of "the gay" in him. The pastor that took his
place at the megachurch he ran says "the process of restoring Ted
Haggard is incomplete." Colorado Confidential:: Ted Haggard Quits New Life 'Restoration Team'

I
voted this morning. It was cold as a b*%$ outside BTW! It only took me
about 15 minutes, but as soon as I got to work, I heard that many
people were in line for 45 minutes or more and some left because it was
too long and too cold to wait they plan to go back later during lunch.
I'm happy to be voting and I'm glad that its over so the commercials
will end. I have to say that even though I don't like Hillary, her
commercials were good. She's a tough chick and definately comes across
as someone who can handle being in charge.

FOXNews' John Gibson won't be happy about this. No one is listening to his pleas for white people to make more babies. U.S. Hispanic population to triple by 2050 - USATODAY.com.
If today's immigration, fertility and other population trends continue,
the U.S. population is expected to reach 438 million by 2050. That's a
lot of people in only 42 years. 82% of this growth will be immigrants
and their families/offspring. Comparing this to the 2005 numbers, the
foreign born population will go from 12% to 19% and whites (non
Hispanic) take a big blow going from 67% to 47%. Hispanics will go from
14% to 29%, Asians from 5% to 9% and what about us black folks? We will
go from 13% to 13%. WTF?

Then there are the baby boomers. They'll go from 40 to 81 million. The last of them will reach 65 in 2029. Breitbart.com: Older Population to More Than Double.
By the time we reach retirement, we're going to owe social security
money. My generational retirement age will come in 2040 and my dream is
to live in Maui, so I don't plan to leave the U.S. I hope I don't have
to.

Doesn't this same report talking about how everyone will be
Hispanic by 2050 come out every six months? It's completely unreliable
because there are too many unforeseens in this volatile global
landscape. Plus, by 2050, there will be so many more biracial or
multiracial people that these distinctions will simply not hold.
Besides, according to my Mama, Jesus will be back before 2050 anyway.

Detroit
is already a city in a bad situation. Its recession began long before
the rest of us and some economists say its a full out depression. What
will this latest move by GM mean? The car company, which posted the
worst loss in history for 2007, has 74,000 workers represented by the
union and its offering them all buyouts. This is the company's entire
U.S. hourly workforce. Honestly, I would take the package and use the
money to either go to school and learn a new trade/skill or start over
somewhere else. GM offers buyouts to all UAW members; beats earnings target

About
46,000 of the GM employees are eligible to retire today and they can
take pension incentives worth between $45,000 to $62,500 to retire. In
addition there are inducements for those who are five years from
retirement to leave early and receive benefits. Those who leave and
agree to sever all ties with the company - including giving up
lucrative pension and health care coverage - will receive a lump sum of
$140,000 if they have 10 years of service, or $70,000 for those with
less than 10 years.

2.11.2008

Gary
Sillett doesn't understand why people are mad at him. All he said was
that he wants to make sure citizens of Franklin County, Kansas do not
betray their heritage in exchange for that Muslim candidate's false
promise of change.

"To elect Barack Obama to the highest
office in the land would be nothing less than spitting on the graves of
the victims of 9/11, as well as the memory of the countless thousands
of American loyalists who have pledged and given their lives, their
fortunes and their sacred honor in defense of those tired old symbols
and icons of the greatest nation on earth."

He expressed this in his local Ottawa Herald,
but the original copy was been replaced with a censored version, then
deleted altogether, but Wonkette.com luckily copied it first. See the
link below. Here is some of the good stuff:

The
Democratic Party actually intends to put a Muslim fundamentalist in the
White House. Yes, you read it right. They want to put a man of Muslim
origins in the White House. Barack Hussein Obama hit the campaign trail
from nowhere and continues to gain momentum as his political handlers
crank out generic catchphrases to lure the unsuspecting voter with
words like hope and change... But to even consider turning over the
reins of government to a Muslim fundamentalist would be, as my
grandmother used to say, throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Notice how he remembered to put that middle name in there. Ignorance would be entertaining if it wasn't so dangerous.

Though
Bill Clinton maintained that nothing he said about Obama was factually
incorrect or a personal attack, he admitted that he made a mistake to
“think that I was a spouse like any other spouse who could defend his
candidate.”

He also did a tour of black churches in this area prior to the voting on Tuesday and never criticized Obama. In this video
we see him saying he understands the immense pride of the black people
and how it has propelled them to vote for Obama, but still thinks his
wife would be a better choice.

"George
G. Mbugua is a 42-year-old executive with two cars, a closet full of
suits and a good job as the chief financial officer of a growing
company. His life has all the trappings of a professional anywhere. He
recently joined a country club and has taken up golf. But unlike
anywhere else, this executive has to keep his eyes peeled on the daily
commute for stone-throwing mobs. When he gets home after a long day, he
has to explain to his daughters why people from different ethnic groups
are hacking one another to death. Even his own affluent neighborhood
has been affected. Some of the Mbuguas’ neighbors recently fled their
five-bedroom homes because of the violence that has exploded in Kenya
since a disputed election in December turned this promising African
country upside down."

Last
week several economist told us to stop looking for a recession to come
because its already here. Today, we have economists saying we will have
slow growth, but not likely a recession. Growth May Slow, but Recession Looks Unlikely - washingtonpost.com.
If we keep lowering interest rates as if we're in a recession and it
turns out not to be one, inflation is a gonna kick in and things will
get worse.

Our
sluggish economy has also deterred illegal immigrants from coming here
for jobs. I guess there is a silver lining. As a matter of fact,
Mexico's economy is doing so well that poverty rates have declined.
Some illegals will probably be going back. Bloomberg.com: Mexican Migration May Fall as Economy Improves. "Mexico
created 950,000 jobs last year, helping meet demand from the 1.1.
million people who entered the labor force in 2007, USA Today said. The
number of migrants caught by U.S. border agents fell 20 percent during
about the same period, the newspaper said."

"D.C.
police are now watching live images from dozens of surveillance cameras
posted in high-crime parts of the city, hoping to respond faster to
shootings, robberies and other offenses and catch suspects before they
get away. Since August 2006, the city has installed 73 cameras across
the city, mostly on utility poles, at a cost of about $4 million. But
until recently, officers were using them mainly as an investigative
tool -- checking the recordings after crimes were committed in hopes of
turning up leads and evidence."New
York is also on board and has added public parks to the list of places
they plan to watch for criminal behavior. If they can get the funding. NYPOST: KEEPING AN 'EYE' ON PARK CRIMES. "While
they might be appropriate in some sections of some parks, there needs
to be a commitment to protecting the privacy of individuals on romantic
trysts and athletes whose bumbling might be captured on tape."

Yesterday,
Barry beat Hillary Clinton...again by winning Maine. But that wasn't
enough. His bloodlust for victory spread clear across the continent as
he went on to beat Bill Clinton by winning a grammy for Best Audio
Version of his book "The Audacity of Hope." Bill's "Giving" was also
nominated. Barry is relentless in his hunger for power. cbs2chicago.com - Barack Obama Wins Grammy for Spoken Word Book.
Chelsea better watch out because the next time she bids for something
on Ebay, he'll be there. Barry also won this award for his earlier book
"Dreams From My Father." I think its odd to win a grammy for reading
your own book, but congrats either way. CNN Political Ticker: Obama beats two Clintons in one day.
As he has been far too victorious of late, I feel compelled to remind
you via this doctored photo that he smokes. Jesus would never smoke.

2.08.2008

When
I heard that Bey was going to play Maggie the Cat in Debbie Allen's
broadway version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, I threw up in my mouth a
little bit. I love Bey, but you need a broadway style actress for that
role. Can you imagine Bey trying to pull off that long, slow southern
drawl? Exactly. Did you see Jessica Lange play Maggie? No one will ever
come close to her perfection, but someone can do beter than Bey. Well,
it turns out that Kerri Thompson is playing Maggie and Terrence Howard
is playing Brick. James Earl Jones is playing Big Daddy and Phylicia
Rashad is Big Momma. BET.com - Terrence Howard Will Lead Cast of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof;

------------------------

Bey
will get the chance to play Etta James in Darnell Martin's movie,
Cadillac Records. Etta has won a ton of grammys, but she's most famous
for that song that everyone plays during their first dance at their
wedding, At Last. Jeffrey Wright (great actor), Ced the Entertainer
& Adrien Brody will co-star. While Bey had to slim down for her
role in Dreamgirls, she'll have to gain weight for this role. I like
how she's been looking more natural these days. Dark hair, less makeup
and if you zoom in, you can see her actual natural hairline. Who knew? Paste Magazine :: News :: Beyoncé to play Etta James in Cadillac Records

Flavor Flav is going to be the star of MYNetwork TV's first sitcom. Really? MyNet sets Flavor Flav comedy - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety------------------XM
comes free with my car for a year. I'll have to pay for it after that.
One of their channels is the only radio channel in America dedicated to
African American talk, The Power. Reverend Hot Comb
has a show on there. Beginning this Monday, they're expanding it to
include new shows featuring Tavis Smiley, Kojo Nnamdi, Blanche
Williams, and the sports talkradio duo The 2 Live Stews. XM Launches New Shows on The Power (XM Channel 169) . I've listened to Kojo on NPR and he's not bad.-------------------------------Halle
Berry is jaunting around Asia to promote "Things We Lost In The Fire"
which went straight to Netflix for me. I was nervous for her being over
40 and diabetic and still being very active, but she appears to be
doing well and still looks better than most women being 6/7 months
pregnant. I like the new natural do as well. Let's abolish all the
weaves, ladies. I would say I can't wait to see this baby because both
she and her Canadian boytoy are hot, but that's what I thought about
Brad & Angie's baby, Shiloh, and she is...sorta cute. Halle Berry Is Hungry & Ready to Evict Her Child from Her Uterus - A Socialite's Life

"Churches,
houses and hospitals are still filled to capacity in this Cameroonian
border town on the banks of the Chari River where between 20 and 30,000
Chadians fled to when fighting broke out in N'djamena on 2 February.
Although home is just a short walk away over an iron bridge that
crosses the river and back into Chadian territory, the refugees prefer
to watch and wait to see if calm will hold at home. The estimated 3,000
rebels who launched an assault against the city are still unaccounted
for."

They say at least 100 civilians have been killed
so far. The U.N. has called for help and France has come in to help the
thousands of refugees struggling to get out. There is resistance by the
Chadian government, but how long can it last? The EU says peacekeepers
will be coming into Chad next week.

Jon Stewart had the best take on Mitt Romney's dropping out speech on The Daily Show
last night. My favorite part was when Romney said, "America is becoming
the France of the 21st century" and Jon said, "Uhm...isn't France the
France of the 21st century?" Check it out for a laugh.

In
my daily life of going to work, going to school, writing, painting and
trying to have a life, I always ask myself what can I do to fill up all
that free time I have? I decided to learn a new language. The high
school I went to was worthless. They taught us Latin. This is a school
that offered cross country skiing, archery and bowling as legit
courses, so I guess it figures they wouldn't teach us anything
practical.

So, I chose to learn Mandarin
because I'm crazy and prefer confusion to sanity. I'm extremely unhappy
with my choice but too stubborn to give up. The Rosetta Stone
is a great learning tool, and although it isn't cheap, the total
immersion method is effective. There is no English at all. Out of the
almost 30 languages it offers, the only African language is Swahili.
But if you're looking to learn a new language, I recommend this
product. You can also do a demo at the site in Turkish and get a feel
for what you're in for. They allow you to order a free, more detailed
and extensive, demo in the language of your choice. The best thing
about the software is that it comes with a mic you can plus into your
laptop and, using soundwaves, it will compare your pronounciation of
the language with a native speaker and rate the likeness.

He argues that "when
people talk about race relations, they too quickly try to ferret out
racism without looking at the larger issues. In doing so, they leave
open the possibility that opportunists will unfairly paint someone as a
racist to further their political ends, while de-legitimizing some very
real problems. 'I decided to write the book out of dismay and
frustration with the way questions of racial injustice are typically
taken up,' Ford says. 'Right now, we tend to deal with questions of
race and race relations in the context of scandal. There's not much
conversation about the day-to-day issues with racial tensions and
injustices.'"

Zzzzzzzz.

I
hope the book gets better. If you read it tell me. I am interested in
hearing what you think of his chapter titled "Racism Without Racists." And
the facts frequently complicate what appears to be a simple case of
racism: The widely circulated nugget about a Hermes store closing when
Oprah Winfrey tried to enter is simply not true. The store was closed
for the day. But people were quick to draw upon actual occurrences of
retail store discrimination in putting it out there that even Oprah is
refused service because of her race. The story resonated, even if it
wasn't accurate.

2.07.2008

Bryant
R. Purvis, one of the black students in the center of the Jena 6
controversy, was arrested on an assault causing bodily injury charge.
His mother should shut her mouth and not talk about it. Bryant
R. Purvis' mother said he got in a fight at Hebron High School in
Carrollton on Wednesday because he'd heard a classmate had vandalized
his vehicle. Denton County jail records show Purvis, 19, was arrested
on an assault causing bodily injury and released today on bail.

For
me this doesn't change the fact that the Jena police department choose
not to act on the growing tensions and racially motivated fighting and
assaults on and off campus by students until a white kid was hurt. I
never said they shouldn't have been arrested. I was upset that they
were charged with attempted murder absent the intent.

These boys
lost a lot of support when the video of them laughing while playing
with all the money that was raised by citizens for their defense hit
YouTube. They lost even more support when a couple of them showed up at
the BET awards looking like this. This wasn't supposed to be about
them. It was supposed to be about the local justice system. If (he
hasn't been convicted of anything) this is true, then sad.

In, And Obama Wept,
ABC Correspondent Jake Tapper discusses the cult of Obama and how its
gotten out of hand. "It's as if Tom Daschle descended from on high
saying, "Be not afraid; for behold I bring you good tidings of great
joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day
in the city of Chicago a Savior, who is Barack the Democrat."

I
was personally amazed at some of the statements by media folks who act
as if they've fallen in love for the first time. MSNBC's Chris
Matthews, who said he wept after Obama's Iowa victory speech, says,
“I’ve been following politics since I was about 5. I’ve never seen
anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along,
and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament."

Tapper
goes on to discuss the feelings expressed by other news personalities
and popular bloggers who agree their cohorts need to get a grip. One
says, "Excuse me, but this sounds more like a cult than a political
campaign. The language used here is the language of evangelical
Christianity – the Obama volunteers speak of 'coming to Obama' in the
same way born-again Christians talk about 'coming to Jesus.'...So I
say, we should all get a grip, stop all this unseemly mooning over
Barack, see him and the political landscape he is a part of in a
cooler, clearer, and more realistic light, and get to work."

Could
this end up creating a backlash movement? I'm the kind of person who
generally becomes skeptical of something that so many just jump
unquestionably on board with, but I still like him. And wasn't just a
few weeks ago people were complaining about a media bias for Clinton?

When
it became common knowledge that American stores on the Canadian and
Mexican borders were accepting Canadian dollars or pesos, some people
weren't too happy. You can imagine they might not be thrilled to see
the growing number of "Euros Accepted" signs outside stores in the
U.S., but its just smart business. Euros Accepted signs pop up in New York City U.S. Reuters

"The
increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among
currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with
money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable
exchange rates."

When Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen was
falsely accused of refusing American dollars for her jobs for American
companies, it was all over the blogosphere and Americans got upset?
Why? She's not even American, but even if she was, I don't see cause
for alarm. There is probably some relevant Freidman "World Is Flat"
reference that could go here, but it isn't necessary. The blending of
global economies has been a reality for everyone for the longest, but
many Americans let their pride and sense of superiority make them
believe its all about the Benjamins. They all adjust to us, not the
other way around. Wrong. So whether its a Euro, Renminbi/Yuan, Riyal or
whatever, it's money so take it. The more these tourists buy, the
better our economy, and thus the dollar, will be.

CNN
Commentator Roland S. Martin says that the recent rash of conservatives
saying they will vote for Hillary as a protest vote against John McCain
is just irrational and further indication of the breakdown of the
party. Commentary: Conservatives' hatred of McCain makes no sense - CNN.com.
He says, "Listening to the irrational and hysterical response of
conservatives to the presidential candidacy of Sen. John McCain would
be laughable if it wasn't so serious."

He blames the Right's
quest for a new Ronald Reagan as blinding them to issues that are more
important. "Let's be clear -- conservatives don't like McCain. But with
conservatives one seat away from having a majority on the Supreme Court
and the next president having the power to name up to three justices,
do you actually think the folks who've fought two generations to
re-take the Court actually want to see three Clinton jurists?"

I
don't blame it on a quest for Reagan, although their rose-colored image
of the conservative icon is probably a part of it. I mostly blame it on
resentment for McCain/Feingold and the restriction of money in federal
elections. Many Republicans blame the 2006 election on this, although
there was that whole war in Iraq thing. Recent polls have said McCain
has the best chance against either Hillary or Barry. McCain is pro-life
and he is a fiscal conservative. He was right about needing to go full
force on the war, which both he and Colin Powell advised the president
of and Rumsfeld & Cheney said no. And yes, they are very upset
about his view of immigration, but he is in favor of securing the
borders aggressively. He just doesn't believe it will be possible to
ship 12-15 million illegals out of this country. Many reasonable people
don't, even if that is what they want.

Regardless,
Romney will not get independents and moderates and will likely lose to
Hillary or Barry. And I love Huckabee, but come on.

As
ridiculous as the Republicans have been with spending, we can always
count on the Democrats to want to spend a little bit more. That
$600-$1200 check you might have been expecting in June or July, has
been delayed. Why? Senate Democrats wanted to add another $44 billion
for the elderly, disabled veterans, the unemployed and "big business." Stimulus package, with $44 billion add-ons, blocked

"Republicans
banded together to block the $205 billion plan from advancing
Wednesday, leaving Democrats with a difficult choice either to quickly
accept a House bill they have said is inadequate or risk being blamed
for delaying a measure designed as a swift shot in the arm for the
lagging economy."

This might end up being a good thing. If they
can squabble about it long enough, maybe they'll all realize rebate
checks are not the right idea anyway. We have to learn to deal with the
changing economic landscape and little bandaids aren't the answer. Do
they really think it will stave off a downturn, which BTW we are
already in?

2.06.2008

Because I'm too lazy to look this stuff up every day, I will do a weekly Black History Month Post.

February
3, 1920 - The Negro Baseball League was founded. The Chicago American
Giants is a boring team name, so I'm going to say my favorite was the
Atlanta Black Crackers. Black Baseball's Negro Baseball Leagues . However, this article says it was started in 1896 in Texas.-------------------February
4, 2007 - Tony Dungy became the first black head coach to win the
Superbowl. Also, Rosa Parks was born on this date some time earlier
than 2007.-----------------February 5, 1934 - Hank Aaron was born------------------February 6, 1820 - U.S. Blacks Emigrate from NY back to Sierra Leone. How's that working out? ------------------

February 9, 1964 - Arthur Ashe Jr. became 1st Black on U.S. Davis Cup Team

Next week is looking good - Hint - It has something to do with Atlanta.

Judge Rules Vick Can Keep $20 Million in Bonuses - New York Times
Michael Vick only has to give up $3.75 million of his bonus money,
leaving him with $20 million which the NFL tried to take back after his
federal conviction. The bonuses were from 2004-2007. I can see him
getting his salary he contracted for, but bonuses? They are supposed to
be forthe extra stuff, right? He should have to donate it to an animal
shelter or something. Maybe he will when he gets out for some PR.

Next
Tuesday, Virginia, Maryland & D.C. will go to the polls. We refer
to it as the Ghetto Super Tuesday - Beltway Style. All the excitement
is completely dead and it looks kind of pitiful. They could at least
throw in Pennsylvania or something.

Aside from the big
wigs, one of the local primaries is getting more and more attention.
Maryland's 4th District Congressman is Democrat Albert R. Wynn. I
didn't know who he was until his crazy wife went on the "he left me for
a white woman" campaign to try and get him defeated a couple of
elections ago. Bitter crazy is my favorite kind of crazy, so I love
this woman.

It didn't matter. He's won pretty easily since then. But he might have a formidable opponent in Donna Edwards. Wynn and Edwards Change Tacks in Democratic Race - washingtonpost.com.
His decision to go hard on the accusations makes me think he might be a
little worried. She's responding with the "I'm a single mother so you
know I work hard" card. She's also raised more money than him. Just a
little bit. When all is said and done, I think eight-terms is enough.

Some
of the conversation around California is that Hispanic voters are the
ones who put Hillary & McCain over the top in California. CNN Political Ticker: How Clinton, McCain may have won California.
No surprise that the Hispanic vote made the difference, but is there a
black v. brown racial component? No, but I'm sure the media will find
one. And what about other states. According to NPR, Hillary won the
Hispanic vote by a two-to-one margin in New York, Cali & New
Jersey. I admit, New York I get and maybe even New Jersey because its
so close, but Cali?

"Violent
storms and tornadoes killed at least 48 people and injured more than
100 others across the mid-South Tuesday night and early Wednesday,
authorities said. Union University staff and students search through
dormitories destroyed by a tornado in Tennessee. 1 of 2 more photos »
The storms ripped apart homes and a shopping mall, and trapped
residents of university dorms and a retirement home in debris. The
trail of death stretched across four states, with four people killed in
Alabama, 13 in Arkansas, seven in Kentucky, and 24 in Tennessee."

How
long is the United Nations going to let the Sudan spread its cancer of
death and destruction? They've recently tumbled into Chad and now more
people are dying there. It's being described as "full-scale warfare" in
the capital. And of course thousands are trying to flee. This morning,
the French said they were going to head into Chad to try and get some
of the people out of there, but its going to take more than France. The
UN's Security Council adopted a statement condemning the attacks and
asked countries to help. What more can it do? What more can we do? Hanging Chad - New York Times Blog

Remember
that stack of cash you were supposed to be getting from Bubba that you
were supposed to spend on something that boost the economy, but you
know you probably won't. You might not get it at all.

"Senate
debate bogged down Monday night on a bill meant to boost the sagging
economy by putting more money in consumers' pockets and cutting some
business taxes. Senators voted 80-4 Monday to cut off debate on a $146
billion economic plan overwhelmingly passed by the House last week. But
the Senate postponed a final vote until at least Wednesday after
Republicans asked for more time to examine Senate Democrats' proposed
changes to the House package. The Democrats' proposal would reduce the
amounts of rebates to taxpayers, but would extend benefits to the
elderly, disabled veterans and the unemployed."

"Missouri
posted the highest 2005 homicide rate for African-Americans of any
state, according to a report issued Tuesday. The report, based on FBI
crime data, set the state’s black homicide rate at 32.79 per 100,000
people — six times the nation’s overall homicide rate and more than 10
times the rate for whites. Kansas ranked 12th nationally, with a rate
of 20.73 per 100,000. "

I'm
sorry I forget to blog about this Friday. I was so caught up in LOST
from the night before, I forgot all about the 28 days the country
acknowledges that we have contributed more than entertainment and good
food.

"Washington
County Circuit Judge W. Kennedy Boone III has been reprimanded by the
Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities for referring to three
women of color in the Public Defender's Office as "the Supremes" and
for suggesting that a defendant who wanted to replace his public
defender be given an "experienced male attorney."

Interesting. Now more students at schools with a low graduation rate will have to take out more loans. Sallie Mae cuts student aid - News"Sallie
Mae's decision to cut loans to students at colleges with low graduation
rates will affect only a small number of AU students, according to
Martha Holler, managing director of corporate communications for the
company. 'A small number of AU students with low credit scores and no
cosigner may see a decline in their approval rates and may need to work
with another lender to secure a private loan,' Holler said in an
e-mail."

2.01.2008

Hey!!!!!!!!!!

Aside
from 24, this is my favorite show. I wanted to stab someone with a
spoon when I heard it was moved from Wednesday to Thursday. I'm free
and clear Wednesday, but I have class until 10pm on Thursday. I used to
love watching it while communicating with my dysfunctional,
confusion-addicted friends online.

So I
watched last night's episode when I got home. Nothing much to say. The
black guy that visited Hurley in the psych house scared me, but Locke
looking through the peephole from INSIDE Jacob's house scared me more.
I know a lot of people like Locke and I liked him in the 1st season
when he was buddies with Walt and just sort of weird, but he is
full-fledged crazy now. I still hate Jack, love Hurley and think
Sawyer, Jin & Sayid are the hotness. I will still be awaiting the
return of Mr. Eko and his Jesus stick and will not be satsified until
he comes back.

Remember when Ben said to
Jack "If they come here, everything living on this island will die?"
Like me, you were probably thinking what a redundant statement. But
think about it. You hav always suspected that not everyone on that
island is living.

Here's
a video of a woman and the male lion she rescued. She is visiting him
at the zoo she sent him to after he was healed. He loves her so much.
This is really a sweet video of how he reacts to seeing her.

Payrolls Drop for 1st Time Since 2003 - washingtonpost.com: "Nervous
employers cut 17,000 jobs in January _ the first such reduction in more
than four years and a fresh trouble sign that the economy is in danger
of stalling. The Labor Department's report, released Friday, also
showed that the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.9 percent, from
5 percent, as the civilian labor force shrank slightly."----------------

As
noted on Thursday, the employment data in December and January are hard
to read. Economist Ray Stone calls them the "dirtiest of the entire
year," because weather and the usual swings in employment can cloud the
underlying reality. But most economists believed weather and the
seasonal factors would work in favor of January data that looked better
it really was. Uh oh.

There
is a 69% chance that the Fed will cut its target rate by 100 basis
points to 2% by the end of April. Late Thursday, the contract price
implied an 82% probability of a reduction to a 2.25% target rate, and a
62% chance of a 100 basis point cut.

I'm
glad I didn't tape it. The 50 clips I've seen on TV and online this
morning let me know it was quite the match.com meet up. He held her
chair out for her, they whispered into each other's ears. Personally I
was hoping for a couple of impatient "Al Gore" type sighs, some rolling
eyes and at least one, "B*&^ please," but what we got was an "I
love you," and "Yes, but I love you more."

I
really don't know why She Who Will Not Be Named doesn't like Hillary
more considering they are so much alike...to me at least. Well, the
neo-con war against John McCain has gotten its devil queen to attack
the moderate. But she has to hate Mormons and blacks too, so I guess
she has no choice but to vote for Hillary. YouTube - Coulter: I'll campaign for Hillary if McCain is the nominee

Uhm...Cosby
should probably stop taking advice from crazy people. This is one of
the worst ideas ever. And BTW Bill, if you're going to talk about
proper parenting, remember to mention that if you have out of wedlock
children, you should probably not ignore that they exist until they
grow up and try to extort you. AllHipHop.com Daily News - : Bill Cosby Working On Rap Album

"Bill
Cosby - a staunch critic of some rap music - is set to release a
Hip-Hop album called State of Emergency, which will be a sanitized,
issue-oriented CD. Sources told AllHipHop.com that the actor, comedian
and philanthropist will address issues like proper parenting, teen
pregnancy, drug abuse, Black-on-Black crime and the dropout rate in
America's high schools."

Everyone
is in love with him, I get it. I see the whole Messiah thing and I'm a
little bit on board. But remember what his politics are. He is a
liberal and, according to this latest poll, the most liberal out of 100
Senators. That includes Kennedy and Schumer and the rest. Seriously. CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time - Blogs from CNN.com: "Barack
Obama has demonstrated his appeal to independent voters and even some
Republicans as he campaigns for president, though a just-released study
from the National Journal indicates the Illinois Democrat was the most
liberal senator in 2007. Chief rival Hillary Clinton held the 16th most
liberal voting record last year, the non-partisan survey of 99 major
Senate votes found"